Which finger owns each digit
Before you start the number typing test, it helps to know the map. In the common touch-typing convention, each digit belongs to the finger that types the letters in the column beneath it. On the left hand, the little finger takes 1, the ring finger 2, the middle finger 3, and the index finger both 4 and 5. On the right, the index finger takes 6 and 7, the middle finger 8, the ring finger 9 and the little finger 0, along with the minus and equals keys beside it.
The 6 is the digit teachers disagree about. It sits between the two index fingers, slightly nearer the left one, and some courses give it to the left hand. We follow the version above, and the on-screen keyboard lights the finger for each next key, so you can confirm a reach before you make it.
The long reach up from the home row
Letters on the top row are one row away from your resting fingers; digits are two. Because the rows are staggered, each digit also sits a little to the left of the letters in its column, so the finger travels up and slightly sideways rather than straight up.
A reach that long tempts the whole hand to lift and drift. Reach with one finger while the others stay lightly in contact with the home row, then return at once. The raised bumps on F and J tell you, without a glance, that you are back where you started.
Why digits slow nearly everyone
Most people type far fewer digits than letters, so the reach never got the repetition that turned letters into habit. There is a second reason, and it matters more. A word is read once and produced as a familiar pattern, while a string of digits has no pattern to fall back on: 4172 and 4127 look alike and mean different things, so each digit has to be held in mind until it is typed.
That is why your speed here may be far below your speed on words, and why a words-only score says little about how you handle numbers. The gap is normal. What you want is for it to narrow over time, and for the digits you type to be right.
Top-row digits or the numeric keypad
This test uses the number row, not the numeric keypad. The keypad suits long columns of pure figures, because one hand rests on it with a finger over every digit. Many laptops have no keypad at all, though, and in mixed text such as an address or an invoice line, moving your right hand across and back can cost more than it saves.
The top row keeps both hands on the main keyboard, so a digit can follow a letter without either hand leaving home. If your work is mostly mixed entry, the top row is the skill to build; if it is columns of figures, add keypad practice as well.
How to practice the number row
Start slowly enough that you never look down. Say each group to yourself in pairs as you type it, 41 then 72, which keeps the digits in order in your head. If you forget which finger goes where, look at the on-screen keyboard rather than at your hands.
Pay attention to pairs typed by one finger, such as 4 and 5 or 6 and 7, and to the far ends, 1 and 0, where the little fingers have to stretch. Those are where most hesitation hides. Repeat the 30-second length a few times in a row for focused work, and use one or two minutes when you want a steadier measure.
Questions
- Which finger types each number key?
- In the usual convention: left little finger on 1, left ring on 2, left middle on 3, left index on 4 and 5, right index on 6 and 7, right middle on 8, right ring on 9 and right little on 0. Each finger reaches up two rows from its home key and comes straight back.
- Why is typing numbers slower than typing words?
- Two reasons. The number row is two rows above your resting position, a longer reach than any letter. And digits carry no pattern: you can't predict the next one the way you finish a familiar word, so each is read, held and typed on its own. Practice shortens the reach, and reading in pairs helps with the rest.
- Should I use the number row or the numeric keypad?
- Use the keypad for long columns of figures if your keyboard has one. Use the number row when digits turn up inside text, such as dates, addresses and codes, so your hands never leave the letters. This test practices the number row, and the on-screen keyboard shows it.
- How do I stop looking at the keyboard when I type numbers?
- Slow down until you can type without glancing, even if it feels far too slow at first. Keep the fingers you aren't using resting on the home row, find your way back by feel, and check the on-screen keyboard above the text instead of your hands. The habit forms faster than the speed does.
- Does this test include symbols like $ or %?
- No, only digits and spaces, in groups of two to six. The shifted symbols on the number row have a test of their own, and the letters-and-numbers test mixes digits into words and codes. Get plain digits steady first, since the symbols reuse the same reaches with Shift added.